A troop of wild monkeys broke into a house in India and snatched newborn twins – one of the 8-day-old girls was reportedly killed.
The mother – identified as R. Buvaneswari, 26 – told police the monkeys broke into her home in Thanjavur city on Saturday by lifting roof tiles, The Times of India reported.
Buvaneswari said she was home alone with the twins and her 5-year-old daughter while her husband, Raja, 29, a house painter, went to work, according to the report.
She claimed that the marauding monkeys stole her babies while she was in the outdoor toilet.
The mother said she ran back into the house when she heard the animals screeching and was shocked to find that the babies were missing. She ran back outside when she heard one of her babies crying and saw one of the monkeys holding the child.
Neighbors then chased the monkey and rescued the girl, but the other child was found dead in a moat, The Times of India reported.
“Once we had the information about the incident, we rushed to the site and looked for the second baby. We finally found the child on the canal, “Police Inspector S. Chandramohan told the news broadcast.
“We sent the body to the government’s Medical College Hospital for post mortem,” he added.
However, M. Ilayaraja, the district’s forest official, described the incident as “the rarest of the rare” and said the mother’s account is under investigation.
“It is very difficult for the animal to remove the tiles to enter through the same hole and come out again,” said the official.
“In addition, according to the doctor’s statement, the baby being observed, as well as the baby who died, showed no signs of being gripped by the animal on their body,” Ilayaraja continued.
“Since they are still infants, their joints can become dislocated when animals such as monkeys lift them. There is no bruising or scratching or dislocation of joints. However, we cannot come to a conclusion. ”
But this isn’t the first time there have been reports of monkeys attacking babies in India.
Two years ago, a monkey snatched a 16-day-old child in the village of Talabasta. The child was later found dead at the bottom of a well, the British Sun reported.